System and Method for Transporting Wayside Data on a Rail Vehicle

ABSTRACT

A system is provided for transporting wayside data on a rail vehicle. The system includes a wayside device positioned adjacent to a rail, where the rail vehicle travels along the rail. The system includes a transceiver coupled to the wayside device to transmit and receive data relating to the operation of the wayside device. Additionally, the system includes a transceiver coupled to the rail vehicle in communication with the wayside device transceiver upon the rail vehicle passing within a proximate distance of the wayside device. The rail vehicle transceiver transmits or receives the data based upon the communication with the wayside device transceiver. The rail vehicle transports the data between the wayside device and a secondary location along a pre-existing route of the rail vehicle prior to the communication with the wayside device transceiver. A method is also provided for transporting wayside data on a rail vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wayside devices, such as railroad signals, for example, are positionedadjacent to a railroad track, and serve distinct functions relating to arail vehicle passing along the railroad track. It is important to ensurethat these wayside devices are operating correctly, as if one fails tooperate correctly, this may affect the proper operation of the railvehicle or create a safety concern. There are several conventionalsystems which attempt to monitor the operation of these wayside devices.However, these conventional systems typically do not notify a remotemonitoring center or a remote party until the wayside device hasactually failed to operate correctly. The conventional systems mayaccomplish this in a number of ways, such as by sending a maintenanceworker out to the wayside device periodically to check for failure ofthe wayside device, or by communicating a failure signal along a landline from the wayside device to the remote monitoring center, forexample. Additionally, satellite communication may be utilized tocommunicate a failure condition of the wayside device.

Additionally, such conventional systems may communicate necessarysoftware to wayside devices which utilize universal software, forexample. These conventional systems may communicate a new softwarepackage to the wayside device, or communicate an updated softwareconfiguration of an existing software within the wayside device, forexample.

Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a system capable ofmonitoring the operation of these wayside devices, both prior to andsubsequent to a failure in the correct operation of the wayside device.Additionally, it would be advantageous to provide a system capable ofutilizing a more cost effective means of communication for deliveringinformation relating to the monitoring of these wayside devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided fortransporting wayside data on a rail vehicle. The system includes awayside device positioned adjacent to a rail, where the rail vehicletravels along the rail. The system further includes a transceivercoupled to the wayside device to transmit and receive data relating tothe operation of the wayside device. Additionally, the system includes atransceiver coupled to the rail vehicle in communication with thewayside device transceiver upon the rail vehicle passing within aproximate distance of the wayside device along the rail. The railvehicle transceiver transmits or receives the data based upon thecommunication with the wayside device transceiver. The rail vehicletransports the data between the wayside device and a secondary locationalong a pre-existing route of the rail vehicle prior to thecommunication with the wayside device transceiver.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a communication systemis provided for transporting wayside data on a rail vehicle. Thecommunication system includes a rail vehicle traveling along a rail,where the rail vehicle has a transceiver. The communication systemfurther includes a wayside device positioned adjacent to a rail, wherethe wayside device has a transceiver in communication with the railvehicle transceiver upon the rail vehicle passing within a proximatedistance of the wayside device along the rail. The rail vehicletransceiver transmits or receives the data based upon the communicationwith the wayside device transceiver. The rail vehicle transports thedata between the wayside device and a secondary location along apre-existing route of the rail vehicle prior to the communication withthe wayside device transceiver.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided fortransporting wayside software data on a rail vehicle. The methodincludes positioning a wayside device adjacent to a rail, where the railvehicle travels along the rail. The method further includes coupling atransceiver to the wayside device, where the transceiver transmits orreceives software data relating to the operation of software within thewayside device. The method further includes coupling a transceiver tothe rail vehicle in communication with the wayside device transceiverupon the rail vehicle passing within a proximate distance of the waysidedevice along the rail. The method further includes configuring the railvehicle transceiver to transmit or receive the software data based uponthe communication with the wayside device transceiver. The methodfurther includes transporting the software data between the waysidedevice and a secondary location along a pre-existing route of the railvehicle prior to the communication with the wayside device transceiver.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more particular description of the invention briefly described abovewill be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof that areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not thereforeto be considered to be limiting of its scope, the embodiments of theinvention will be described and explained with additional specificityand detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a systemfor transporting wayside data on a rail vehicle in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a side plan view of an exemplary embodiment of a system fortransporting wayside data on a rail vehicle in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is an end perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of awayside device positioned adjacent to a rail in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system fortransporting wayside data on a rail vehicle in accordance with thepresent invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a methodfor transporting wayside data on a rail vehicle in accordance with thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments consistent withthe invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numerals are usedthroughout the drawings and refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a system 10 fortransporting wayside data on a rail vehicle 12, such as a train having alocomotive, for example. The system 10 includes a wayside device 14positioned adjacent to a rail 16. In the illustrated exemplaryembodiment of FIG. 1, the wayside device 14 is a crossing signalpositioned adjacent to the intersection of the rail 16 and a roadway 17,as appreciated by one of skill in the art, for example. In anotherexemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, a wayside device 15 may be arailroad signal positioned adjacent to the rail 16, where the railroadsignal includes a plurality of light signals 21 to indicate one of anumber of upcoming conditions along the rail 16, for example. AlthoughFIGS. 1 and 3 illustrate a crossing signal and railroad signal as twotypes of wayside devices, the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention apply to any type of wayside device appreciated by one ofskill in the art.

The rail vehicle 12 travels along the rail 16. A controller 19 of thewayside device 14 is coupled to the wayside device 14, and is incommunication with the wayside device 14 to transmit and receive datarelating to the operation of the wayside device 14. Such data mayinclude diagnostic data, operational data, statistical data, and/or dataindicating a failure condition of the wayside device, for example. Thecontroller 19 may control the operation of the wayside device 14 throughthe transmission and reception of data relating to the operation of thewayside device 14. A transceiver 18 connected to the controller 19 iscoupled to the wayside device 14 through the controller 19, and thus iscapable of transmitting and receiving data relating to the operation ofthe wayside device 14. Additionally, a transceiver 20 is coupled to thetop 21 of the rail vehicle 12 in communication with the wayside devicetransceiver 18 upon the rail vehicle 12 passing within a proximatedistance 22 of the wayside device 14 along the rail 16. When thetransceiver 18 and transceiver 20 are in communication, the rail vehicletransceiver 20 either transmits the data relating to the operation ofthe wayside device 14, which is in-turn received by the transceiver 18coupled to the wayside device 14, or the rail vehicle transceiver 20receives the data relating to the operation of the wayside device 14,which was transmitted by the transceiver 18 coupled to the waysidedevice 14. Although the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1 illustrates awayside device 14 having a transceiver 18 positioned on a controllerpositioned adjacent to the wayside device 14, the transceiver 18 may bedirectly positioned on the wayside device 14, for example. Although theexemplary embodiment of FIG. 1 illustrates a transceiver 20 positionedon the top 21 of the rail vehicle 12, many but not all locomotives arealready equipped with the necessary equipment, such as the transceiver20, to perform the wireless communication of data relating to theoperation of the wayside device 14. Additionally, in an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, several locomotives may pass by asingle wayside device during a day, and thus even if locomotive #1 failsto properly communicate with the wayside device to receive the datarelating to the operation of the wayside device, locomotive #2,3,etc.can effectively communicate with the wayside device. Thus, there is nonecessity to upgrade every locomotive which travels by the waysidedevices to be capable of communicating with the wayside devices andtransmit/receive data relating to the operation of the wayside devices,as several locomotives which travel by the wayside devices may be soupgraded. Additionally, in an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, a single locomotive may pass by several wayside devices overa pre-existing route 26, and thus even if locomotive #1 fails toproperly communicate with wayside device #1 along the pre-existing routeto receive data relating to the operation of wayside device #1, thatlocomotive #1 can succeed in communicating with wayside #2,3,etc. alongthe pre-existing route to receive data relating to the operation ofwayside #2,3,etc, for example.

As illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4, the rail vehicle12 transports the data relating to the operation of the wayside device14 between the wayside device 14 and a secondary location, such as arailroad operating center 24, along a pre-existing route 26 of the railvehicle 12. The pre-existing route 26 of the rail vehicle 12 waspredetermined prior to the communication between the rail vehicletransceiver 20 and the wayside device transceiver 18 adjacent to thewayside device 14. Thus, the rail vehicle 12 effectively acts as atransport medium for the data relating to the operation of the waysidedevice 14, between the wayside device 14 and the railroad operationcenter 24, along its pre-existing route 26, and the rail vehicle 12behaves no differently based on whether there is or is not communicationbetween the rail vehicle transceiver 20 and the wayside devicetransceiver 18. A number of different facilities may be positioned atthe secondary location, such as the previously mentioned railroadoperation center 24, or a monitoring center, both of which may receivethe data relating to the operation of the wayside device 14, and analyzethe data in order to assess the performance of the wayside device 14and/or determine the onset of any possible failure in the operation ofthe wayside device 14, for example. Additionally, a yard or service shop25 may be positioned at or adjacent to the secondary location, and therail vehicle 12 may receive or transmit the data respectively from or tothe yard service shop 25 upon arriving at the secondary location, forexample.

In an exemplary embodiment, the rail vehicle transceiver 20 may obtainthe data from the railroad operation center 24 at the secondarylocation, and in-turn transport the data to the wayside device 14, afterwhich the data may be transmitted from the rail vehicle transceiver 20to the wayside device transceiver 18. For example, such data which istransported from the railroad operation center 24 to the wayside device14 may include configuration data to configure the wayside device 14, asdiscussed in greater detail below. Alternatively, the rail vehicletransceiver 20 may obtain the data at the wayside device 14 from thewayside device transceiver 18 and transport the data to the railroadoperation center 24 at the secondary location, after which the data maybe transmitted to one of the railroad operation center 24 or monitoringcenter, for example, as discussed above. For example, such data which istransported from the wayside device 14 to the railroad operation center24 may include data indicating a failure condition of the wayside device14. As illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4, the system 10may include rail vehicles 12,13 having a plurality of respectivetransceivers 20,23 for transmitting or receiving the data relating tothe operation of the wayside device 14.

In an exemplary embodiment, the communication between the wayside devicetransceiver 18 and the rail vehicle transceiver 20 may be a wirelessform of communication. Examples of such modes of wireless communicationinclude IEEE 802.11, for example. Alternatively, in an exemplaryembodiment, the communication between the wayside device transceiver 18and the rail vehicle transceiver 20 may be a wired form ofcommunication. Examples of such modes of wired communication includeEthernet, RS-422, or ANSI/TIA/EIA-422-B, for example.

As illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, the system 10further includes a processor 32 positioned on the rail vehicle 12. Theprocessor 32 is coupled to the rail vehicle transceiver 20, and has aprogrammable memory 34 for the rail vehicle transceiver 20 to transportthe data of a selective wayside device 14 among a plurality of waysidedevices 14,15 along the pre-existing route 26 of the rail vehicle 12.Although FIGS. 1 and 3 illustrate two wayside devices 14,15 along thepre-existing route 26, more than two wayside devices may be positionedalong the pre-existing route 26 adjacent to the rail 16. Thus, in theillustrated exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 3, the programmablememory 34 may be programmed (typically at the beginning of a route, suchas at the railroad operation center 24 at the secondary location, forexample) to transmit or receive the data respectively to or from thewayside device transceiver 18 of the selective wayside device 14, but tonot transmit or receive the data respectively to or from the waysidedevice transceiver 27 of the wayside device 15 (FIG. 3) when the railvehicle 12 passes within the proximate distance 22 of the wayside device15. The programming of the programmable memory 34 may be based on adesire to monitor the performance of a particular group of waysidedevices among the plurality of wayside devices along the pre-existingroute 26, or to only receive data respectively from wayside deviceswhich have reached a failure condition, for example. The programmablememory 34 stores whether, for each selective wayside device 14, the railvehicle transceiver 20 is to transmit the data to the wayside devicetransceiver 18 or the rail vehicle transceiver 20 is to receive the datafrom the wayside device transceiver 18. For example, the programmablememory 34 may be programmed so that the rail vehicle 12 transports datafrom a failed wayside device 14 among the plurality of wayside devices14,15 along the pre-existing route 26, for example. Upon the railroadoperation center 24 receiving the data indicating the failed waysidedevice 14, the railroad operation center 24 may arrange for repairsand/or maintenance of the wayside device 14, in addition to safetyprecautions, such as rescheduling the routes of trains passing in thevicinity of the failed wayside device 14, for example.

As further illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, upon therail vehicle transceiver 20 having received data from the wayside devicetransceiver 18, the rail vehicle transceiver 20 stores the data in amemory 36 of the processor 32 during the transport of the data betweenthe wayside device 14 and the secondary location, such as the railroadoperation center 24. As discussed above, a railroad operation center 24may be positioned at the secondary location, and a transceiver 40 iscoupled to the railroad operation center 24, which is in communicationwith the rail vehicle transceiver 20 when the rail vehicle 12 passeswithin a proximate distance of the railroad operation center 24. Thedata is retrieved from the processor 32 and transmitted from the railvehicle transceiver 20 to the railroad operation center transceiver 40.In an exemplary embodiment, the railroad operation center 24 evaluatesthe diagnostic data, operational data, statistical data, and/or dataindicating a failure condition of the wayside device, to analyze thedata and/or to determine an onset of failure of the wayside device 14.The railroad operation center 24 may communicate the results of itsanalysis with several outside parties, including the railroad, adispatch unit, a maintenance unit and/or the manufacturer of the waysidedevice 14, for example. In an exemplary embodiment, the railroadoperation center transceiver 40 transmits the data of the wayside device14 to the rail vehicle transceiver 20, and the data is stored in thememory 36. The rail vehicle 12 then transports the data to the waysidedevice 14 along the rail 16 on the pre-existing route 26 andsubsequently transmits the data from the memory 36 to the rail vehicletransceiver 20 to the wayside device transceiver 18. For example, suchdata which is transported from the railroad operation center 24 to thewayside device 14 may be configuration data which is utilized tore-configure the wayside device 14, such as new timing data for when thecrossing signal should rise/fall, for example, or configuration softwaredata for the software used to operate the wayside device 14, forexample.

As illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4, the system 10includes a plurality of rail vehicles 12,13 having a plurality oftransceivers 20,23, and the processor 32 of the rail vehicle 12 iscoupled to the plurality of transceivers 20,23. Upon one 20 of thetransceivers 20,23 transmitting or receiving the data from the waysidedevice transceiver 18, the processor 32 deactivates the remaining 23transceiver of the plurality of transceivers 20,23 from communicatingwith the wayside device transceiver 18.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method 100 fortransporting wayside software data on a rail vehicle 12. The method 100begins at 101 by positioning 102 a wayside device 14 adjacent to a rail16, where the rail vehicle 12 travels along the rail 16. The method 100further includes coupling 104 a transceiver 18 to the wayside device 14,where the transceiver 18 transmits or receives software data relating tothe operation of software within the wayside device 14. The method 100further includes coupling 106 a transceiver 20 to the rail vehicle 12 incommunication with the wayside device transceiver 18 upon the railvehicle 12 passing within a proximate distance 22 of the wayside device14 along the rail 16. The method 100 further includes configuring 108the rail vehicle transceiver 20 to transmit or receive the software databased upon the communication with the wayside device transceiver 18. Themethod 100 further includes transporting 110 the software data betweenthe wayside device 14 and a railroad operation center 24 at a secondarylocation along a pre-existing route 26 of the rail vehicle 12 prior tothe communication with the wayside device transceiver 18, before endingat 111.

This written description uses examples to disclose embodiments of theinvention, including the best mode, and also to enable any personskilled in the art to make and use the embodiments of the invention. Thepatentable scope of the embodiments of the invention is defined by theclaims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled inthe art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of theclaims if they have structural elements that do not differ from theliteral language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structuralelements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages ofthe claims.

1. A system for transporting wayside data on a rail vehicle, comprising:a wayside device positioned adjacent to a rail, said rail vehicleconfigured to travel along said rail; a transceiver coupled to saidwayside device configured to transmit and receive data relating to theoperation of said wayside device; and a transceiver coupled to said railvehicle in communication with said wayside device transceiver upon saidrail vehicle passing within a proximate distance of said wayside devicealong said rail, said rail vehicle transceiver is configured to one oftransmit and receive said data based upon said communication with saidwayside device transceiver; said rail vehicle is configured to transportsaid data between said wayside device and a secondary location along apre-existing route of said rail vehicle determined prior to saidcommunication with said wayside device transceiver.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the rail vehicle is a train having a plurality oflocomotives.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the communication betweensaid wayside device transceiver and said rail vehicle transceiver is awireless communication.
 4. The system of claim 2, wherein thecommunication between said wayside device transceiver and said railvehicle transceiver is a wired communication.
 5. The system of claim 4,further comprising: a processor positioned on said rail vehicle, saidprocessor coupled to said rail vehicle transceiver; said processorhaving a programmable memory for said rail vehicle transceiver totransport said data of at least one selective wayside device among aplurality of wayside devices along said pre-existing route of said railvehicle.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein said data is at least one ofdiagnostic data, operational data and statistical data relating to theoperation of said wayside device.
 7. The system of claim 5, wherein forsaid at least one selective wayside device, said programmable memoryincludes one of said rail vehicle transceiver to transmit said data tosaid wayside device transceiver and said rail vehicle transceiver toreceive said data from said wayside device transceiver.
 8. The system ofclaim 6, wherein upon said rail vehicle transceiver receiving data fromsaid wayside device transceiver, said rail vehicle transceiver isconfigured to store said data in a memory of said processor during saidtransport of said data between said wayside device and said secondarylocation.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein a monitoring center ispositioned at said secondary location, a transceiver is coupled to saidmonitoring center; said monitoring center transceiver is incommunication with said rail vehicle transceiver upon said rail vehiclepassing within a proximate distance of said monitoring center.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein said data is retrieved from said processorand transmitted from said rail vehicle transceiver to said monitoringcenter transceiver.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein said monitoringcenter is configured to evaluate said at least one of diagnostic data,operational data and statistical data relating to the operation of saidwayside device to determine an onset of failure of said wayside device.12. The system of claim 9, said monitoring center transceiver isconfigured to transmit said data of said wayside device to said railvehicle transceiver, said data is stored in said memory, said railvehicle is configured to transport said data to said wayside devicealong said pre-existing route and transmit said data from said memory tosaid rail vehicle transceiver and to said wayside device transceiver.13. The system of claim 12, wherein said data is configuration data ofsaid wayside device.
 14. The system of claim 5, wherein saidprogrammable memory is programmed such that said rail vehicle isconfigured to transport data from at least one failed wayside deviceamong said plurality of wayside devices along said pre-existing route.15. The system of claim 5, wherein said rail vehicle includes aplurality of transceivers, said processor being coupled to saidplurality of transceivers; upon one of said transceivers transmitting orreceiving said data from said wayside device transceiver, said processoris configured to deactivate the remaining of said transceivers fromcommunicating with said wayside device transceiver.
 16. A communicationsystem for transporting wayside data on a rail vehicle, comprising: arail vehicle traveling along a rail, said rail vehicle having atransceiver; a wayside device positioned adjacent to a rail, saidwayside device having a transceiver in communication with said railvehicle transceiver upon said rail vehicle passing within a proximatedistance of said wayside device along said rail; said rail vehicletransceiver is configured to one of transmit and receive said data basedupon said communication with said wayside device transceiver, said railvehicle is further configured to transport said data between saidwayside device and a secondary location along a pre-existing route ofsaid rail vehicle determined prior to said communication with saidwayside device transceiver.
 17. The communication system of claim 16,wherein the rail vehicle is a train having a plurality of locomotives.18. The communication system of claim 17, wherein the communicationbetween said wayside device transceiver and said rail vehicletransceiver is a wired communication.
 19. The communication system ofclaim 18, further comprising: a processor positioned on said railvehicle, said processor coupled to said rail vehicle transceiver; saidprocessor having a programmable memory for said rail vehicle transceiverto transport said data of at least one selective wayside device among aplurality of wayside devices along said pre-existing route of said railvehicle.
 20. A method for transporting wayside software data on a railvehicle, comprising: positioning a wayside device adjacent to a rail,said rail vehicle configured to travel along said rail; coupling atransceiver to said wayside device, said transceiver being configured totransmit and receive software data relating to the operation of softwarewithin said wayside device; coupling a transceiver to said rail vehiclein communication with said wayside device transceiver upon said railvehicle passing within a proximate distance of said wayside device alongsaid rail; configuring said rail vehicle transceiver to one of transmitand receive said software data based upon said communication with saidwayside device transceiver; and transporting said software data betweensaid wayside device and a secondary location along a pre-existing routeof said rail vehicle determined prior to said communication with saidwayside device transceiver.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the railvehicle is a train having a plurality of locomotives.
 22. The method ofclaim 21, wherein the communication between said wayside devicetransceiver and said rail vehicle transceiver is a wired communication.23. The method of claim 22, further comprising: providing a processor onsaid rail vehicle, said processor coupled to said rail vehicletransceiver; said processor having a programmable memory for saidtransporting said software data between at least one selective waysidedevice among a plurality of wayside devices along said pre-existingroute of said rail vehicle.
 24. The method of claim 23, furthercomprising: programming said programmable memory such that said railvehicle is configured to transport said software data from at least onefailed wayside device among said plurality of wayside devices along saidpre-existing route.